Receive the latest national-international updates in your inbox

If a campaign cheats during this election season, chances are high it’ll never be investigated. That’s according to some of the very Federal Election Commissioners tasked with enforcing the law, who call the agency “dysfunctional” and “broken,” NBC 4 Washington.

The FEC is made up of six people – one independent, two Democrats and three Republicans – who hold tremendous power. Under federal law, they’re supposed to investigate and penalize candidates and campaigns caught breaking the rules.

But to even investigate these complaints requires at least four votes, and a News4 I-Team investigation found they often deadlock on potentially precedent setting cases – effectively preventing those cases from moving forward.